The present application is directed to methods of forming a toner image and particularly to methods of forming a mono-color toner image within a multi-color image forming device.
Color image forming devices such as but not limited to printers, facsimile machines, copiers, and combination machines form images with two or more different colors of toner. Each color of toner may be stored within an imaging station and transferred to an intermediate member as a toner image during the image formation process. For multi-color images, two or more different colors of toner are transferred to the intermediate member and combined to form the final image. For mono-color images, a single color of toner forms the final image.
Each imaging station includes at least one photoconductive member. During the image formation process, the imaging stations are activated and the photoconductive member is rotated. Further, the toner is moved within the image forming station. The life of the photoconductive member is largely determined by the total number of revolutions. Further, the toner within the imaging stations is churned during the image forming process which also decreases its effective life. Prior art image forming devices have addressed extending the lives of the photoconductive members and toner in a variety of different manners.
Many standard image forming device do not treat a multi-color image differently than a mono-color image. The imaging stations for the non-used toner continue to rotate the photoconductive member and churn the toner even though no toner is transferred from that specific station. Other image forming devices use a mechanism that retracts the intermediate member away from the photoconductive member. This may increase the life of the photoconductive member, but adds complexity and cost to the image forming device.